Lady Marmalade
by silent-five
Summary: Troy and Gabriella prove that making up is not so hard to do, especially when your girlfriend is secretly a super vixen. WRITTEN FOR ZAANGELS WRITE OFF CHALLENGE!


**_ LADY MARMALADE _**

**AUTHOR:** Jessa

**RATING/GENRE:** M/Smut, Mild Angst (but not really)

**FANDOM/PAIRING:** High School Musical/Troyella

**SUMMARY: **Troy and Gabriella prove that making up is not so hard to do, especially when your girlfriend is secretly a super vixen.

**DISCLAIMER:** Just because I like to make Troyella have lots of naughty exploits does not mean I own them. Isn't it ironic that they actually belong to Disney?

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:** This fic was written for the ZA-Angel's Write Off: Audrey's Category #2 in which you had to write about a Wildcat party! Of course I had to make it into Troyella dirtiness cause that's how I roll. Not the most original idea, I know, but who can turn down some good ol' fashioned smut?

Thanks be to Kylz for her input on this! What would I do without you, chick? Write really terrible fanfiction, that's what.

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Gabriella Montez didn't consider herself a jealous person. Point of fact, she considered herself particularly unjealous -- if that can be considered a real term. That being said, like every normal teenage girl, she could have her moments. Could you really blame her when her boyfriend was sought after by every female -- and even a few males -- in New Mexico?

"What are you grumbling about, sister?" her best friend Taylor asked as she rifled through some papers in her meticulously organized binder. The pair were at Taylor's locker, waiting for the bell to ring so they could go to homeroom and begin their exciting Friday at school. The sooner it could get started, the sooner it would be over and hello to the weekend.

Gabriella chose not to answer. She settled for glaring down the hall, causing Taylor -- when she finally looked up -- to follow her gaze in order to see what had the usually pleasant girl in such a snit.

At the far end of the corridor, Troy and his basketball posse were having quite the laugh with a giggling group of cheerleaders in short shorts. The captain himself had an arm draped around the shoulders of the head cheerleader, causing Taylor's eyes to narrow.

"If he's not careful, I'm going to be forced to stuff him in a locker," the feisty girl said, trying to comfort her friend and get a little smile out of her. To her dismay, she didn't succeed. Gabriella's eyes remained dark, a frown stretched across her full lips.

She was well aware of the fact that Gabriella felt intimidated by the glamazon cheerleaders Troy was used to hanging around. It wasn't that Gabriella thought she was unattractive, not by any means, it was just difficult not to feel insecure when girls with much more experience in dating and guys were throwing themselves at your boyfriend. Then there was the added fact that he didn't seem too beat up about it at the moment...

"If he's not careful, he's going to find himself single," Gabriella muttered. She really hated feeling so bitter but couldn't quite control it right then.

A sigh escaped Taylor. She was fairly positive that this was an empty threat. On a normal day, Troy and Gabriella were attached at the hip, acting almost nauseatingly romantic with each other.

"Whatever, let's just get through the day and then we can concentrate on having fun at Jason's party tonight."

Gabriella began to protest almost instantly. "Oh, Tay. I'm not even sure if--"

"You're going and you _will_ have fun, you hear me? Don't let that lunkhead put you down in the dumps. You promised you'd go with me, remember?" Taylor interjected, turning on the charm of her big brown eyes.

Although she seemed reluctant, Gabriella laughed softly and nodded. "Fine, I'll go."

"Excellent! We're going to have such a blast!" Taylor squealed.

The obnoxious sound of the bell, shrieking at them to get to homeroom, interrupted any comments that could have followed. The two girls linked arms and skedaddled into Miss Darbus' hideously overdone classroom, immediately finding their seats next to one another. Where aimless conversation about what they were thinking of wearing to the party would usually have taken place, there was only silence. Taylor didn't take it personally; Gabriella was still fuming about Troy snubbing her in favor of the cheerleaders that morning.

When he entered the room, flanked as ever by the entire basketball team, the temperature in the room dropped considerably. Suddenly, Gabriella was very eager about chatting with Taylor who quickly caught on and dived into conversation as well. They were happily discussing what would best match Taylor's new red shirt when Troy and Chad approached them.

"Gooood morning, ladies," Troy greeted them cheerfully, sinking down into the desk in front of his girlfriend.

"Is it?" Gabriella retorted without even glancing his way. Her less then enthusiastic response to his arrival had both boys eyebrows shooting skyward, looking to Taylor for answers. All she could do was shrug -- it was between Gabi and Troy.

Troy reached across Gabriella's desk to thread the fingers of one of his hands with one of hers. "Are you okay, babe?"

She retracted her hand and sent him a scathing look. "Fantastic," she replied sarcastically, fully aware that she was handling the whole situation rather childishly.

Thoroughly confused, he tried a different approach. "So, are you girls psyched about that thing at Jase's tonight?"

"Oh yes. Dozens of scantily clad girls, drunk and gyrating to music. Sounds like an amazing evening."

Troy blinked in surprise. "No really, what's up with you, El?"

"Look, Tay! He still remembers my nickname," Gabriella commented instead of answering him.

With a wince, Taylor began, "Gabs, maybe you should just--"

"What the hell did I do?" Troy cut her off, now sounding mildly irritated with the personal attacks.

Matching grimaces on their faces, Taylor and Chad shared a look. They both knew there was a storm coming.

"If you don't know, I think that's answer enough right there," Gabriella shot back.

"That doesn't even make any sense!"

"Of course it doesn't... not to an insensitive jerk..."

"Whoa! How did we get to jerk? All I've done to you today was say 'good morning'!"

"Exactly!"

"Wait... what!?"

The couple's bickering continued all throughout homeroom while Chad and Taylor -- along with half the class -- watched helplessly.

When the second bell of the day rang, signalling the start of their first class of the day, both Troy and Gabriella jumped out of their seats, anger and frustration almost tangible in the air between them.

"I can't believe you practically just accused me of cheating on you!" Troy hissed.

"If the shoe fits!" Gabriella snapped back, consumed with pent up feelings of jealousy.

"Look, if you can't handle me talking to other girls then--"

"Oh, I can handle you talking to them, I just can't handle you _handling_ them!"

"Handling? _Handling!?_ When do I handle other girls!?"

"You looked pretty cozy with one of the cheerleaders this morning! Why don't you just take her to Jason's party tonight because I'm not sure if I could stomach being within a ten mile radius of you right now!"

"Maybe I will if you're going to get so uptight about it!" Troy hollered before stalking from the room with Chad close on his heels.

Gabriella was on the verge of hysterical tears when Taylor placed a comforting arm across her shoulders and steered her into the hallway.

"Don't worry, sweetie. He'll come around..." she told her distraught friend, hoping it wouldn't turn out to be a white lie.

"Well, if he's planning on going to this party, I'm going to go and have ten times more fun then he does. And he'll know it too!" Gabriella vowed, her deep brown eyes ablaze. It was clear she hadn't heard Taylor, her mind still fully focused on the unusually big blowout she'd just had with her boyfriend.

Taylor sighed heavily. Obviously that night was going to be an interesting one.

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"I can't believe she's doing this to me!" Troy groaned as he leaned against the wall of Jason's living room.

Friday night's festivities were in full swing and it seemed as though the entirety of East High was in attendance. Troy and Gabriella were still not speaking to one another and therefore had arrived with their respective best friends, both of whom were on the precipice of simply locking the quarreling couple in a room together so they could wrassle it out. As hard as it was to watch them be sickeningly sweet to each other most of the time, dealing with them after a fight was that much worse.

Troy hadn't shut up about Gabriella the whole night, even after a half-hour long – and completely unconvincing – spiel to Chad about how he didn't need the brainy brunette to have fun. The very instant he'd seen her on the dance floor, grinding shamelessly against Taylor and Martha with a colorful cocktail in hand, he didn't even bother to pretend not to care what she was up to.

And poor Chad – the awesome best friend and sidekick – was sadly stuck listening to the basketball captain bitch.

"How come she never wears that dress when she's _not_ ignoring me?"

It was evident, to even the casual observer, that Gabriella intended to use that night to let go of all inhibitions and just enjoy being a teenager. This meant that – judging from the guys eyeballing her, having noticed the rift between her and her boyfriend – Troy wasn't letting her out of his sight.

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Across the party, Gabriella wasn't the least bit interested in other guys, though it was hard to tell from a distance.

"Is he looking?" she asked Taylor for the thousandth time.

Closing her eyes in an effort to gather her patience, Taylor replied, "Yes! Okay? He's been looking the entire fucking night. It's actually starting to scare me a little."

"Well, he's an insanely focused person," Gabriella defended him in spite of still being pissed.

"Could you just forget about him for five seconds? We came here to have fun!" Taylor whined.

Both of them automatically dipped down lower at the appropriate point in the song they were dancing to before Gabriella answered.

"I'm having fun!"

"Obsessing over your boyfriend's every move is not fun," her friend pointed out.

Shrugging, Gabriella initiated a little hip bumping action to the opening beats of Kayne West's "Stronger" and downed the bottom of her drink. The alcohol created an unfamiliar burn in her throat but she was far from being drunk. She only planned on getting mildly buzzed, not thoroughly smashed like most of the party attendees.

"Are you sure I look okay in this?" Gabriella fretted after another moment.

Her eyes traveled down to nervously survey her body, taking in the dress Taylor had made her buy for the occasion, claiming she needed at least one sexy thing in her closet. It was a mini-dress, fashioned from sultry red satin, with a sweetheart bodice and a little pleated bubble skirt that ended around midthigh. Black peep toe heels lengthened her smooth legs and, when paired with a black clutch, completed her outfit perfectly. Her black hair was flawlessly curled, sweeping back from her face in tantalizing waves that she knew her boyfriend couldn't resist.

"Oh my God, Gabriella! You look hot, alright!? Every guy in this place is hoping that Troy won't notice them drooling so he doesn't kick their asses!" Taylor exploded, looking rather hot herself in tight black jeans, strappy heels and a gold, off-the-shoulder peasant top.

"Thanks, Tay," Gabriella said meekly.

The dark-skinned girl rolled her eyes. "You can thank me by not constantly second guessing yourself," she muttered.

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"Drew Janes looks like he's about to make a move…" Troy hissed, eyeing the hockey captain with a poisonous gaze. "Maybe I should go over there…"

Chad let his head fall back until it whacked off the wall, wishing with his entire being that could be over on the dance floor, mixing it up with his girlfriend, instead of in the self-pity party with all the wallflowers.

"For Christ's sake. Just fucking go over there before I axe murder you. Obviously your pride means nothing to you so why should either of us have to suffer?" he snapped.

"Yeah. Yeah, she's probably forgotten all about our fight by now, right?" Troy said uncertainly.

"Um…" Chad winced, almost positive that this was not the case. "Sure…?"

Squaring his shoulders, Troy inhaled deeply, as if he assumed the breath might be his last.

"Wish me luck, dude."

Chad laughed lightly as he pictured Gabriella's likely reaction. "Yeah, you're probably gonna need it."

Troy gave him a withering look and timidly circled in for the kill.

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When Taylor decided out-of-the-blue that she was going to get another drink – though the one she had was still half-full – Gabriella didn't think anything of it. That is, until she felt someone mold themselves to her back, curving around her petite body. She didn't have to look back to know exactly who it was.

"I missed you," he whispered, his lips brushing her ear lobe with each word. The action caused her to shiver but she stubbornly ignored it.

"Oh really?" she retorted. "Where's what's-her-name cheerleader? She didn't keep you occupied enough?"

Troy's body stiffened. "You know you're the only girl I care about, Ella."

Finally, she allowed herself to catch his eye, aware of the entrancing power they possessed. Luckily for her, pride seemed to be winning the battle within and she managed to stay composed and keep herself from jumping into his arms.

She leaned forward on her high heels, pressing up against his taut form. Languidly she traced a path up his chest with her hands in order to wrap her arms around his neck, her fingers teasing the hairs at the nape. Troy appeared to be lost for words, which currently suited Gabriella just fine.

"After tonight, Wildcat," she warned in a low, dangerous tone. "I'll be the only girl you think about ever again."

Without warning she yanked herself out of his arms, which had only just settled in on her hips, and grasped him around one wrist. Just shy of being violent, she pulled him towards the stairs. She had to hold back a triumphant smirk while she dragged the clueless Troy past a group of shocked cheerleaders crowding the hallway. Along the way, Gabriella snatched a drink from one of their hands.

"Thanks!" she called over her shoulder.

The thudding beat of the music from below was in perfect synch with Gabriella's heartbeat and it urged her up the steps and into the nearest room, with Troy in immediate succession. Neither of them registered that the almost pitch black room – illuminated only by a hint of streetlight shining in from the window – happened to be Jason's younger sister's.

Gabriella kicked the door shut, letting it slam loudly, before she advanced on Troy who stood frozen in the centre of the room. Of all the things he'd expected from his girlfriend, this certainly wasn't one of them. A weak yelp escaped him when she grabbed the collar of his blue button-up shirt and guided him towards the small single bed pushed against the far wall. She used surprising strength to shove him down on the mattress where he landed in a sitting position after a slight bounce.

"Are you sorry, Troy?" she demanded after setting her nabbed drink down on the table beside the bed and climbing onto his lap, one bare leg on either side of his thighs. Her lips dropped feather light kisses to his jaw, causing his eyelids to flutter.

"Yes," he croaked, barely conscious of what he was apologizing for.

A jolt of agonizing pleasure jolted his body when she bit down on the tanned skin of his neck and then licked her tongue over the same spot to soothe the hurt and work him into a frenzy.

Her deft hands made short work of the buttons of his shirt and in no time, she was done with it and threw it off to the side so she could concentrate on his naked torso. Troy, who was accustomed to being the instigator in situations such as these, was already panting in anticipation of the unknown.

"Gabriella," he groaned when the feeling of her hot mouth nibbling on his collarbone overwhelmed him.

As soon as he tried to give something back, however, by tracing one of her smooth shoulder blades with his index finger, she desisted her teasing. He was about to question her motives but didn't have the chance as she forced him further up the bed and into a lying position.

"Where are you—?" he asked -- with a hint of desperation that stemmed mostly from his pants -- when she jumped off him.

Gabriella threw him a devilish glance over her shoulder. "Stay," she ordered.

He watched with wide eyes as she rooted through the closet on the other side of the room, only taking a minute to find what she was searching for. Her grin grew when she fished out two long scarves from the darkness within.

"Oh my fucking God…" Troy murmured unconsciously, fairly certain he knew what she had in mind. Even just the thought that she might tie him to the bed had him hard in two seconds.

Without responding, she sauntered back to his side and returned to her previous position atop the basketball star. Her long hair tickled his chest as she leaned over to tug his arms above his head, only adding to the sensations that had him thinking he might explode. The 'might' was extracted from the sentiment as soon as she began to secure his right hand to the white wooden headboard. The left hand followed quickly after.

"I think you should be punished for your insensitivity, don't you?" Gabriella said, rubbing her nose along his jaw. She kissed a wet track down his chest, over the muscles that were flexing as Troy strained against his binds.

"You call this punishment?"

He laughed but it came to a sputtering conclusion when Gabriella sank her teeth into his skin as retribution for his snide response. There was no doubt in his mind that he'd have a mark on his chest in the morning but he couldn't have cared less if he tried.

"Shut up," she commanded but kissed the spot she'd bitten to silently show that she was just playing.

In any case, Troy didn't dare argue. He simply lay in state, succumbing to her will. At first he was only to happy to let her have her way with him, but as her mouth went steadily lower on his torso, his fingers itched to touch her.

He knew this was part of the punishment she'd had in mind and fuck, was it becoming rapidly effective.

"Ella… sweetheart…" he moaned pathetically. "Enough teasing…"

The soft giggle that she released only made Troy's craving worse. She needed to be naked now and he needed to be touching her.

Gabriella knew the exact path his thoughts were taking, which is precisely why she made no move to untie him. Instead she slid off the bed, still crouched over his vulnerable body, and slowly unbuttoned and unzipped his dark jeans. It was sheer torture for him; waiting for her to peel his pants off, inch by excruciating inch, until she finally dropped them to the floor. He'd helped her the only way he could – by kicking off his Vans and hoping it would hurry her along. No such luck.

"Poor baby," Gabriella cooed while slithering her way up to his midsection. "Is that for me?" she taunted, referring to his erection, which was now stretching the fabric of his blue-checkered boxers.

Though he knew it would be playing right into her hands, he responded with a strangled, "Yes!"

Giggling again, Gabriella craned her neck and pressed a kiss to the tip of his penis through the shield of material. Troy couldn't help but writhe beneath her, on the verge of begging for more. His wrists were beginning to ache from the bonds but it was difficult to concentrate on any sensation other then the one emanating from just below his waist. Gabriella continued to tease him with tiny kisses, even as her fingers slipped into the waistband of his boxers, caught between the material and his defined hipbones.

Seconds dragged into minutes as she eased down his underwear, her mouth only pausing long enough to let his member free of its confines. She set right back to work -- driving Troy mental -- as soon as his boxers hit the carpeted floor.

"This is pure evil, babe," Troy hissed, squirming on the comforter. More delectable giggles ensued but sadly Gabriella sat up, ceasing her ministrations entirely. Troy could feel himself pulsating almost painfully. "No no no!" he protested before he could stop himself.

"I'm punishing you, remember?" she purred.

Troy groaned. He was never going to argue with her EVER again. One could practically see the wheels turning inside Gabriella's head, churning out her next devious move. From where he lay beneath her, helpless and at her mercy, Troy was mainly aroused and partially petrified with a whole mess of sexual frustration thrown in.

In a move that caught her boyfriend off guard -- which more or less had been the idea -- Gabriella leaned over in a fluid movement and ran her moist tongue along his shaft from the base to the tip. When she reached the head, she eased it into her mouth and proceeded to nibble and suck in an alternating rhythm.

"Jesus..." Troy breathed, his hands wrapping around the wooden bars of the headboard.

When their relationship had first started to get seriously physical, Gabriella's touches had been timid and inexperienced. Now, after many a month of practice, she had come to learn just how Troy preferred to be touched and teased. Tonight she was abusing her knowledge. The closer he came to the edge, the further down she placed her lips on his erection. Eventually his legs started to twitch slightly and his usage of gasped expletives became more frequent. These were sure signs that the big finish was only a few licks away.

A yell of not ecstasy, as was the norm at this point, but frustration sounded out above the thud of the bass from below. Gabriella had pulled back just shy of Troy's climax, a self-satisfied smirk on her face.

"Wha... why!?"

The sheen of sweat on Troy's forehead caught in the light from the window as he panted.

One of Gabriella's ebony eyebrows quirked up. "Did you really think I'd let you off that easily?"

Had he been in a position to do so, Troy would have bashed his head repeatedly against the wall right then and there.

"You're killing me here, Gabriella," he said.

She failed to dignify his comment with a response. Instead she reached a hand behind her, the sound of a descending zipper mingling in the air with Troy's erratic breathing. His breaths only sped up further at the sight of his girlfriend pulling her sexy dress up and off her body. Now all that separated Gabriella from complete nudity was a mismatched set of undergarments, comprised of a seductive red strapless bra made of barely-there lace and a pair of white cotton briefs with tiny pink hearts on them. There was even a little pink bow on the waistband. Gabriella glanced down and momentarily reverted to her shy, girly self, blushing furiously.

"I was mad at you! I didn't think anyone other then me would see them..." she mumbled.

Troy chuckled. "Hey. I think they're sexy."

Gabriella rolled her eyes and in retaliation wrapped a hand around his still stiff member -- hence vanquishing any hope Troy once had of coherent thought.

"Behave," she scolded him while sliding up his body so that her pelvis just brushed his erection. Neither of them could contain moans of satisfaction from bubbling past their lips as a result of the intimate contact. Gabriella ever so gently pushed her hips up and down to repeat the minuscule contact. After being so close to cumming moments ago, it wasn't long before Troy could feel it rising again. Unfortunately the light grinding wasn't quite enough to tip him over the edge. He was trapped in the swell just before the end of the storm; that agonizing minute where the delicious ache in your lower body consumes you so nothing else matters.

"Gabs... baby... baby, please!" he growled, attempting to buck his hips up in order to create the necessary pressure. His head fell back dejectedly into the pillows when she denied him... yet again, elevating herself so she was perched up on her knees and the glorious connection of their nether regions was broken.

He didn't even bother to ask Gabriella what she was up to when she reached over to the beside table to retrieve the glass of Malibu and coke she'd stolen from the cheerleader on their way up the stairs. Gabriella plucked an ice cube that had been clinking around in the glass from the drink and set it back down.

Troy couldn't help but yelp in a decidedly unmanly fashion when she pressed the ice cube to his chest, just below his collarbone. Slowly Gabriella skimmed it down the smooth expanse of skin and tensed muscle, leaving a wet trail of cool water down to the base of his penis. Despite the coldness, Troy felt like his entire body was on fire. Gabriella craned her neck down and followed the trail with her scorching tongue, immediately warming the frozen skin left in the wake of the ice cube. Upon reaching his neck, she started to lick at the succulent skin of his throat, purposely paying special attention to the small hollow just beneath his ear. Embarrassing little pants and grunts issued from Troy's mouth every so often, betraying his continued state of extreme arousal.

She nibbled on his earlobe -- one of his many weak spots -- while at the same time wriggling out of her positively adorable underwear. Amazingly, Troy was so lost in the sensations her mouth was providing that at first he failed to notice the treasure being uncovered. There was no way however, that he could possibly have been immune to the erotic picture she presented when she leaned back on her haunches.

At a leisurely and maddening pace, she drew an invisible line with her slender index finger from her left shoulder, down over the swell of her breast. She traced her finger along the lowcut and lacy edge of her bra before continuing her descent. Troy followed its progress -- in between the valley of her chest and over her taut abs -- with an unwavering stare.

"Sweet fucking Christ..." Troy choked as he watched her slide one finger inside her own slick heat. Her hand pumped languidly and Gabriella threw her head back, releasing a low moan. Troy seriously contemplated smashing the headboard, freeing his hands and pounding her into the mattress.

"Voulez vous coucher avec moi ce soir?" Gabriella leaned over to whisper in his ear. Her French accent was flawless and, inexplicably, a huge turn on.

He locked his eyes on hers in a passionate gaze. "More then anything."

She winked at him and withdrew her finger so she could feel around the side of the bed for Troy's pants. Finally she located them and all but tore off the back pocket in her quest for protection. She quickly produced a small foil square and the corner of her mouth twitched in amusement.

Troy shrugged impatiently and explained, "You never know!"

Bypassing the predictability of her horny boyfriend, Gabriella had worked herself up to a point where neither waiting nor teasing were acceptable. She used her teeth to free the condom from its package and rolled it swiftly onto Troy's waiting penis. She had barely thrown the empty wrapper off to the side before impaling herself on him.

"Oh... oh my God," she cried out loudly.

A rhythm was established then -- hard and fast. Troy contributed as best he could, thrusting feverishly upwards. Her walls caressed him, surrounding him in such a way that he knew it would take next to no time to reach his peak.

Gabriella rolled her hips in an attempt to maximize the friction and skin-to-skin contact between them. The result was a dramatic increase in the volume of hers and Troy's exclamations of pleasure. He was desperately wishing -- as stars threatened to explode in his vision -- that his hands were free. Her skin was so tempting in the low light, glistening and golden. All he wanted to do was touch every inch of her and make her scream for him.

With her climax just on the horizon, Gabriella tipped her body backwards, bracing herself with a firm grip on each of Troy's thighs. The new angle brought Troy deeper inside her, enabling him to hit all the right spots. Several Earth-shattering thrusts later, a blinding orgasm hit Gabriella with a vengeance. The intensity of the ecstasy she felt resulted in a long and loud shriek that sounded vaguely like Troy's name.

The extra friction provided by her inner walls clamping around his shaft as she came brought Troy's world tumbling down. His eyes squeezed shut in a subconscious effort to block out anything not included in his and Gabriella's bubble of bliss and finally he saw the stars he'd been waiting for. Indescribable pleasure engulfed his whole body, setting all his nerve endings on fire.

The height of Gabriella's orgasm subsided after a moment and she flopped bonelessly against Troy's chest, nuzzling into his neck -- an action that was more commonplace in their relationship then anything else that had just occurred.

"Ummm... El?" Troy said feebly, once he regained the ability to form full sentences. "Can you untie me now? My wrists are starting to cramp..."

Gabriella's head shot up, her eyes widening. "Oh! Oh my god, I'm sorry!"

She instantly set to work loosening the knots and finally giving him back the use of his hands. A blush stained her cheeks, visible even with almost no light, as he rubbed each tender wrist.

"Its okay. They'll probably be bruised tomorrow but, hey -- it'll be an interesting story to tell our grandchildren," he joked with a lopsided grin.

Gabriella's mahogany eyes narrowed as she playfully warned, "You watch yourself, mister, or I'll make grandchildren an impossibility."

Troy laughed and rolled them over, effectively pinning her under him so he could tickle her sides. Being able to touch her again was a gift he intended to take full advantage of.

"What was that, Montez?" he asked over her breathless giggles.

"Mercy! Mercy!" she yelled out, trying in vain to push his hands away.

"Fine," he acquiesced. "But only because you wore me out."

Shifting so that they were lying in a comfortable, post-sex tangle side by side, Troy pulled her limp body up against his until her head was resting on his chest and her leg wrapped around his thigh.

"Cheerleaders not looking so hot now, are they?" Gabriella said smugly.

Without a hint of humor, Troy replied, "Compared to you, they might as well be coat hangers for all the appeal they have to me."

"Look, Troy. About that... I'm sorry. I should trust you enough to know that what we have is real. I shouldn't have jumped down your throat earlier," she sighed.

"Ditto," he said, kissing the top of her head.

"I love you, Wildcat."

Silence filled the room.

"I said I love you, Wildcat," Gabriella tried again.

"I heard you," he said. It was no trouble to tell from the sound of his voice that he was smiling widely.

"... Are you trying to piss me off so I'll jump you again?"

"... Maybe. Is it working?"

Gabriella used a searing kiss, pressing her mouth hard against Troy's, to answer his question.

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**THE END.**

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End file.
